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5 Numbers That Tell The Story of The Eagles First Loss This Season

Placeholder Shilloutte User Image By and Dylan MacKinnon
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 15: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles is sacked by Quinton Jefferson #70 of the New York Jets during the second half at MetLife Stadium on October 15, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Well, it had to come at some point. After playing with fire for most of this season, the Eagles finally lost. And losses don’t get much uglier than that. After leading the entire game, they blew it to the Jets in the final minutes of the game, to lose by a final score of 20-14. It ends their undefeated season and wastes a chance to take the reins of the NFC after the 49ers’ loss

It was a game of endless mistakes by the Eagles. Turnovers, drops, missed chances. They did everything in their power to let the Jets stay in the game. And finally, after the two-minute warning, one final turnover let the Jets take the lead, and eventually the game. They are still at the top of the NFC East and tied at the top of the NFC. But it was a missed opportunity, and there were some very troubling signs.

To make it worse, there were a ton of injuries. Lane Johnson hurt his ankle in the first half. Eli Ricks and Bradley Roby both left the game. A dirty hit knocked Reed Blankenship out of the game. And they already came into it missing Darius Slay, Jalen Carter, Marlon Tuipulotu, Sydney Brown, Justin Evans, Avonte Maddox, and Cam Jurgens. Some of them may be ready to play again next week. Others are out for extended time. Maddox is done for the year. But the injuries are stacking up. It’s an issue they did not have last year, but the good luck has clearly run out.

So what should we take from this game? Is it one bad loss, or a sign of things to come? Should this game have us panicking? Let’s take a deeper look at what went wrong.

Here are 5 numbers that tell the story of how the Eagles lost their first game of the season:

 

  • 4

    This is the most obvious number that went wrong. The Eagles turned it over 4 times. 3 interceptions, and a fumble. Two of those interceptions I have a hard time blaming Hurts for. One came when Dallas Goedert let one pop out of his hands right into the hand of the defender. Another came when Hurts was hit while he was throwing. The final one was 100% on Hurts though. He not only stared down his target but threw it into double coverage. And that was the one that set up a go-ahead score for the Jets. You don’t win games when you turn it over that much.

    New York Jets on Twitter: "LOUD NOISES AT METLIFE. WHAT A HUGE PLAY BY TONY ADAMS!!!!#PHIvsNYJ on FOX pic.twitter.com/mNxnLZa9g4 / Twitter"

    LOUD NOISES AT METLIFE. WHAT A HUGE PLAY BY TONY ADAMS!!!!#PHIvsNYJ on FOX pic.twitter.com/mNxnLZa9g4

  • 13-23

    The biggest issue coming out of that game is the health of Lane Johnson. Because history has proven, this is a completely different team when they have no Lane. Since Lane was drafted, the Eagles are 84-48-1 when he plays. But when he is out, they are 13-23. They won just one game without him last season when he missed time at the end of the year. And the downgrade from him to Jack Driscoll, was immediately apparent against the Jets. If Lane misses any time, they are in big trouble.

    Jeff McLane on Twitter: "RE: Lane Johnson potential left high ankle sprain. Typically, a 3-4-week injury, but O-linemen tend to come back earlier.Issue for Lane is he came back early from right ankle one and it caused misery for years after. / Twitter"

    RE: Lane Johnson potential left high ankle sprain. Typically, a 3-4-week injury, but O-linemen tend to come back earlier.Issue for Lane is he came back early from right ankle one and it caused misery for years after.

  • 45

    The Eagles threw the ball way too much against the Jets. 45 times. I know it was a seemingly depleted secondary for the Jets. But you led the entire game until the final two minutes. And what has made this team so great the past two seasons is the ability to get a lead, and then milk the clock by running the ball. Instead, they only ran it 14 times with their RBs. Those 14 times were not super effective. But to completely abandon the run was a mistake, especially when you were not having very much success through the air either.

    Brenden Deeg on Twitter: "Eagles run plays this season when they run behind Landon Dickerson (left guard):- 32 carries- 239 yards- 7.5 yards per carry- Six 10+ yard runsDickerson has been amazing this season. All-Pro level play. pic.twitter.com/yweO0P30wB / Twitter"

    Eagles run plays this season when they run behind Landon Dickerson (left guard):- 32 carries- 239 yards- 7.5 yards per carry- Six 10+ yard runsDickerson has been amazing this season. All-Pro level play. pic.twitter.com/yweO0P30wB

  • 59.2

    As bad as the offense was, the defense deserves some credit despite the loss. The Jets had great field position all game long. Their average yards to go before the end zone was 59.2. That is a sign of just how bad the offense was, and that they consistently put their defense in a bad spot. And yet they gave up just 1 TD, and that was on a drive that started at the Eagles 8, and the defense let them score on purpose. The Jets started at the Eagles 45, their own 49, the Eagles’ 36, their own 38, and the Eagles’ 8. And yet the Eagles held them to 4 field goals and a TD. The defense, despite all of the injuries, did its part. The offense let them down.

    Philadelphia Eagles on Twitter: "Reservations in the BACKFIELD@Haason7Reddick | #PHIvsNYJ | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/B70fkhdb9i / Twitter"

    Reservations in the BACKFIELD@Haason7Reddick | #PHIvsNYJ | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/B70fkhdb9i

  • 395

    The Eagles offense was terrible yesterday. There is no denying that. And this week will rightfully see Brian Johnson, Nick Sirianni, and Jalen Hurts take a lot of criticism. But some perspective is also needed. The Eagles are still 2nd in yards per game at 395. They are 7th in points per game with 25.8. Now you could also say the Dolphins, who they play this Sunday, have 100 more yards per game than them, and 10 more points per game. But their offense has been better than everyone. The Eagles, despite this week’s awful performance, are still among the best offenses in the league. We will see if that keeps up though without Lane Johnson for a few weeks.

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